Vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (Vmat2) knockdown elicits anxiety-like behavior in zebrafish

Yali Wang; Siyue Li; Wenwen Liu; Fen Wang; Li-Fang Hu; Zhao-Min Zhong; Han Wang; Chun-Feng Liu

doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2016.01.079

Vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (Vmat2) knockdown elicits anxiety-like behavior in zebrafish

Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2016 Feb 19;470(4):792-7. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2016.01.079. Epub 2016 Jan 20.

Authors

Yali Wang¹, Siyue Li¹, Wenwen Liu², Fen Wang², Li-Fang Hu², Zhao-Min Zhong³, Han Wang³, Chun-Feng Liu⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology and Suzhou Clinical Research Center of Neurological Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215004, China; Institutes of Neuroscience, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.
² Institutes of Neuroscience, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.
³ Center for Circadian Clock, Soochow University, Suzhou, China; School of Biology & Basic Medical Sciences, Medical College, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, Jiangsu, China.
⁴ Department of Neurology and Suzhou Clinical Research Center of Neurological Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215004, China; Institutes of Neuroscience, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China; Beijing Key Laboratory for Parkinson's Disease, Beijing 100053, China. Electronic address: liuchunfeng@suda.edu.cn.

PMID: 26801555
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2016.01.079

Abstract

Vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (Vmat2) is widely distributed in the central nervous system, and responsible for uptaking transmitters into the vesicles. However, whether Vmat2-deficiency is related to the anxiety is rarely investigated, especially in zebrafish. Here, we reported Vmat2 heterzygous mutant zebrafish displayed anxiety-like behavior. The mutants spent less time in the top area and took longer latency to the top in the novel tank test. Consistently, they showed dark avoidance in the light/dark box test, with longer duration in the light zone and increased number of crossing between the two zones. Monoamine concentration analysis showed that the levels of monoamine neurotransmitters including dopamine (DA), 5-hydroxy tryptamine (5-HT) and norepinephrine (NE), as well as their metabolites were decreased in VMAT mutants. Taken together, these findings suggest that Vmat2 heterzygous mutant zebrafish may serve as a new model of anxiety, which may be related with the low level of DA, 5-HT and NE.

Keywords: Anxiety; Vesicular monoamine transporter 2; Zebrafish.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Anxiety / physiopathology*
Avoidance Learning*
Behavior, Animal*
Disease Models, Animal*
Gene Knockdown Techniques
Vesicular Monoamine Transport Proteins / genetics
Vesicular Monoamine Transport Proteins / metabolism*
Zebrafish*

Substances

Vesicular Monoamine Transport Proteins